Chernobyl Children's Project International

video: "return to chernobyl" -- a volunteer's story of survival, service, and learning

In the summer of 2003, architect, broadcaster, and Chernobyl Children's Project International volunteer Duncan Stewart was in Belarus to design two buildings for Chernobyl affected communities,  and to film a documentary.  He suffered a near fatal accident.

Two years later, in recovery from massive injuries, he returned to see the completed work, reconstruct his broken memory, and learn more about the impact of Chernobyl on children and families in Belarus.  This video tells the shocking story of Duncan's accident and rescue, his emotional reunion with the Belarusian doctors who saved him, and the CCPI mission that brought him to Belarus in the first place.

If you are viewing this post on email or a feed, you may need to click to the Chernobyl Children's Project International website to view the film.  This nine minute clip is part one of six parts.   We'll post the others periodically, or you can watch them now on the CCPI Chernobyl Channel on YouTube.

Shortly after his accident and in honor of the Belarusian medical professionals who saved his life, Duncan and his wife Agneta hosted a "Chernobyl Heart Ball" in Ireland that raised significant funds in support of our children's cardiac surgery program in Minsk.

Return to Chernobyl is a survival story and an emotional personal journey. And it's a great way to learn about the Chernobyl accident, the zeal of CCPI volunteers, and CCPI projects in Belarus that are making a difference in the lives of children and families who are rebuilding their lives in the aftermath of Chernobyl.

physical therapy volunteer in action & very special chernobyl children off to camps

Pediatric physical and occupational therapist Marisa C. Birkmeier is one of hundreds of Chernobyl Children's Project International volunteers who donate their professional skills to help children affected by the Chernobyl disaster.  Marisa, who holds a doctorate and practices at Children's National Medical Center in Washington DC, recently returned from a trip to Minsk. She was a guest at the Belarusian State Sports University, where she lectured to scores of students and professors on current best practices in their field.  

Afterwards, Marisa accompanied CCPI medical care program coordinators Marie Cox and Valentin Chernyakevich to visit children in our Minsk community care program, a program that helps families take care of their disabled children at home, rather than resort to the nightmare of institutionalization.  The photos show Marisa working with children and sharing techniques to prevent further disability with one of our Belarusian team members. Click here to learn more about the community care program.  If you can, please click here to make a donation to support the program. 

CCPI camps bring fun and hope to disabled children and children recovering from heart disease and cancer.

Again this summer, your donations are making it possible for 200 children who live in contaminated areas of Belarus to attend summer camp on healthy soil. And we have a special commitment to send kids who would not otherwise be able to go.  At our Healthy Hearts camp, we teach good health and fitness habits to children who have received life saving surgery through the cardiac program.  Most of these children lived severely restricted lives prior to surgery. Camp is a place where they can, in many cases for the first time, revel in their new health and socialize with other kids. Our Rainbow of Hope camp is for children in recovering from cancer. Two very special camps welcome children from our community care program and the Vesnova Children's Mental Asylum. 

Meanwhile, CCPI welcomed 1000 children from Chernobyl regions to Ireland this past Sunday, where they will spend summer holidays. Some of the children will be guests at Paul Newman's Barretstown Castle camp for children facing cancer and other life threatening illness.  

program keeps disabled children at home, not in orphanages

In previous updates we've shown how devastating life is for mentally or physically disabled children who live out their lives in orphanages.  And, without intervention, the grim future they face as institutionalized adults segregated from society forever. Thanks to your financial support, we've also been able to tell you happier stories -- stories of our foster families. These amazing families have joined children -- all of whom lived in orphanages and have histories of loss, abuse and neglect -- with parents eager to share their love and provide a secure and nurturing home.

This update is about our Community Care program. This program -- serving 18 children in Minsk, Belarus but set for expansion -- takes disabled children off the waiting lists for orphanages, and provides their families with the support they need to care for their children at home.

Visiting these families last month, I was struck by the unique determination of these parents -- often single mothers -- who care for their children at home in a region where institutionalization is the norm. Chernobyl Children's Project International provides therapeutic home visits, training and supplies for families, outings and other types of support, such as swimming pool visits, accessible home adaptations, and camping experiences for the children. But the passion to overcome obstacles and make it all work comes from the parents themselves.

Andrei, pictured at the top of this post, is an 11 year old with cerebral palsy and autism.  He's a happy and well cared for boy, and his mother is delighted with him -- but clearly exhausted by his activity level.  He is in constant, exhuberant, and barely controlled motion.  It was great to see their loving bond, but I couldn't help but think what a handful he will be as they both get older. They will need all the  support they can get.

Ignat, the calm and handsome boy pictured in my lap to the right , is 6 years old and like many of our children in the program has cerebral palsy.  He lives with his mother, who is single, and his grandmother in a tiny, one bedroom apartment.  A wheelchair lift on the stairs built by CCPI volunteers, and a wheelchair accessible van (paid for with your donations) make it possible for him to enjoy pool therapy visits and trips to McDonald's (a popular treat for the kids and their parents!)

The little girl pictured in the pink jacket is 6 year old Nadya. She has cerebral palsy and suffers frequent seizures.  In the photo she is held by CCPI board member Michael Rodin -- but I enlarged the photo to focus on her lovely face and eyes.  Her eyes are the only responsive part of her, until we turn on her music box and her mouth explodes into a smile. Their apartment had no furniture or comforts and Tanya, Nadya's mother, seemed  to be extraordinarily stressed, on "on the edge."  She told us she was not sure how long she would be able to continue caring for Nadya at home.  This is clearly a family we need to observe and support carefully in the coming months.

Thirteen year old Marguerita is pictured with medical care program coordinator Valentin Chernyakevich, who manages the staff of Belarusian therapists who make home visits to our children.  An inoperable tumor on her spine has taken away her ability to walk. But she uses a wheelchair provided by your donations, and a ramp built by CCPI building program volunteers allows her to get out with her mother and participate in fun activities organized by Valentin and his staff. Last summer, she attended one of our camps for disabled children, and she loves her regular trips to the swimming pool.  She told us she would like to have a chance to ride a horse. Marguerita speaks a bit of English -- it's her favorite subject when a teacher comes in to visit her, and she loves to get letters written in English. She is proud of her mother's singing voice, and urged her to sing Belarusian folks songs to us. She is a very happy and optimistic girl.

Eighteen children, and families who critically need professional and social support in order to care for them at home.  All of them would be in institutions without this program.  Cared for by strangers, they would be extremely vulnerable. Please consider making a donation to help us continue this program, and expand it to help more disabled children avoid the horror of institutionalization and stay with their families where they belong.

100+ chernobyl volunteers set to return home today

Over 100 Irish, Australian and American volunteers will return home today after spending three weeks in Chernobyl affected regions of Belarus. 

We employ about 20 local staff in Belarus, have partnerships with a number of local organizations, and at any given time we usually have volunteers and program directors "in the field."  This trip, however, was a large scale effort many months in the planning. 

Most of the volunteers on this trip were were builders -- carpenters, plumbers, masons, and the like who gave up their vacation time to come and complete work on the Vesnova Asylum in Belarus.  (Here's more about how we help.)  Nurses and therapeutic staff joined the teams in Vesnova, where they trained local caretakers in proper techniques and followed up on care plans for the children, who have a wide range of physical and intellectual abilities.  About 50 very serious ill children live in the facility's "high dependency unit" and require extraordinary care.   

As this work was happening, a management team led by CCPI founder Adi Roche visited projects across the country and met with employees, local partners, and government officials.  Key areas for evaluation were our foster care program and community care program in Minsk.  Adi, joined by Jim Clarken -- our new general manager in Ireland -- and Marie Cox, our medical care program  director, also examined the effectiveness of a new "aid direct" program that provides year round deliveries of necessary supplies for our community centers.  This program improves upon our  annual aid convoy.  Now, we are able to deliver good and supplies as needed, and we are purchasing locally, which puts aid dollars back into the local community to raise the standard of living for all.  Now that certain supplies are readily available in Belarus -- which was not the case when we first started our work in the country -- we are seeing huge cost efficiencies in purchasing locally rather than trucking across Europe! 

The management team visited our completed community centers in Zhitkovichy and Petrikov, and surveyed potential new sites in Glutsk and Buda-Kachalova.  Our community centers and programs target the most under served and at risk communities.  The centers serve a wide variety of community needs . . . therapeutic services for disabled children, child care classes, vocational training and employment services, homework help, computer centers, and more.  Our objective is to give communities the means they need to become self sufficient and avoid the downward spiral of poverty and hopelessness that leads families to place their children in institutions.

We also spent time examining our hospice program in Gomel, to ensure that the needs of families with the most seriously ill children are being properly met by our team of local nurses and psychologists. Meeting these families face to face allows us to hear directly from them whether we are doing a good job and how we can improve our services in the community.

Even as we examined our on board projects, the seeds of new ones were sown in meetings with community leaders across the country who are eager to move forward from Chernobyl.  We'll report back with our progress.